Refinish Ebony Sharps & Ivory

[Roger Jolly]

Now Terry,
                 Dat's why I use the mist coat of lacquer. Bin thar, Done
dat. <g.>
Just buff with 0000 steel wool and mist coat, trust me you will like it.
I find the very thin coat of lacquer does not tend to peel or chip, also a
little of the grain character shows through.

have a good day
Roger



At 07:42 PM 06/03/00 -0500, you wrote:
>I am in the process of refinishing a set of ebony sharps and ivory naturals
>
>As Roger Jolly suggested, I sanded finish off the sharps, sanded them smooth
>w/ 400 grit, and applied black shoe leather dye to them. They look great!
>Shoe dye was easy to use also (also did the sides of the key with the
>black). Instead of laquer (which I thought might wear off too soon) I used
>Forsby's Tung Oil Finish. It looks pretty good, but after 2 days the finish
>is still kinda gummy. Is there any way to get that stuff to dry? If I can
>get it to dry, I was going to hit it with some 0000 steel wool & then buff.
>
>Regarding the ivories, several folks recommended hydrogen peroxide or wood
>bleach. Ok, but when do I bleach them? Before I sand (I plan of sanding w/
>400, 600, and then likely 1,000 grit before polishing)? After I do the first
>rough sanding? After I am done with all sanding? Just before the last
>sanding (I'm guessing that it might be best to do most of my sanding, say
>through 1,000 grit, then bleach, then hit the keys lightly with 1,500 grit
>before polishing)?
>
>And then how do I polish the ivories? Are there any specific compounds
>and/or buffing wheels that work best? Any that I should necessarily avoid?
>
>One last one. Several ivories are just starting to come unglued from the
>keys. It appears that most of the ivory is attached quite well, but on
>several you can push up on the lip and see that it is just starting to
>separate. Is there a good method of reattaching the ivory to the key without
>tearing all apart? I was thinking of just simply wicking a tad of thin CA
>under there, wiping any runs off with the solvent, clamping, and let cure
>with room humidity. Is that the best way? Is there any risk of thin CA
>soaking into the ivory and making it look funky?
>
>That's all the questions for now :-)
>
>Terry Farrell
>Piano Tuning & Service
>Tampa, Florida
>mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com
> 
Roger Jolly
Saskatoon, Canada.
306-665-0213
Fax 652-0505